Landon Donovan named 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup Most Valuable Player

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It would have taken a Panamanian upset and a good individual performance for Canaleros striker Gaby Torres to steal this award. Even then, it would have been close. Instead, Torres will have to content himself with sharing the 2013 Gold Cup’s Golden Boot. The tournament’s Most Valuable Player was destined to be Donovan’s.

Of his team’s 20 Gold Cup goals, Donovan played a part in 12 of them, scoring five times while assisting or being part of the buildup in in seven others. Depending on how you look at Sunday’s goal, that total may be eight “others,” if you want to give Donovan the benefit of the doubt for freezing the goalkeeper ahead of his whiff on Alejandro Bedoya’s cross.

But that miss stands in stark contrast to an otherwise dominant tournament. Rivaling the performance we saw from Mexico’s Giovani dos Santos two years ago (curiously, not named MVP), Donovan was clearly the tournament’s top star, a status the will embolden claims the national team icon should be back in the full senior squad. After taking a soccer sabbatical this winter, Donovan hasn’t been selected for Jurgen Klinsmann’s World Cup Qualifying team, but after using this tournament to reaffirm his international case, it’s difficult to see Donovan not being called into a full squad.

On an individual level, that’s what this tournament was about for Donovan. In a “down” Gold Cup, his name stood out in a list of squads that lacked their top players. Donovan, however, needed to work his way back in. Winning the tournament’s MVP while helping his team to first place, there’s little more the U.S. icon could have done to reestablish himself with his national team.

Cecilio Dominguez and Mateus Uribe each bagged a brace, and Renato Ibarra also scored as the tournament’s top team sauntered into and out of Costa Rica on Wednesday. Club America has been to seven CCL finals, and one every single one.

West Ham United will pay a visit to Dag & Red as part of the latter’s #SaveTheDaggers campaign, and the March 21 date will cost fans between $7 and $21 to see a top flight side at 6,000-seat Victoria Road.

“So please come on down to the Chigwell Construction Stadium for an additional night of football. Bring a friend, or two, or more and we can use the gate takings to help get us back on track,” reads a press release.

Dag & Red was founded in 1992 and climbed as high as League One in 2011, and plays just 2.5 miles from West Ham United’s training ground. Newcastle’s Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle are among Dag & Red alums in the Premier League.

It’s a terrific gesture from West Ham, and is even more impressive in the United States where the growing club game is increasingly cutthroat (especially between non-synced leagues).

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AS Roma manager Eusebio Di Francesco absolutely roasted his charges after i Lupi tossed aside a Cenzig Under-inspired lead to fall 2-1 at Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday.

Di Francesco had praise for Edin Dzeko, who assisted Under’s goal, as well as goalkeeper Alisson, but was mostly enraged by his side.

4) “The difference was that in the first half we tried to hurt them while in the second we were looking to hold on – to what? I don’t know.”

— “To what? I don’t know” is hilarious. Di Francesco’s side has posted some serious wins this season, including killing off Chelsea 3-0 at home and coming back from 2-0 to draw the Blues at Stamford Bridge. He doesn’t preach sitting back.

3) “There were far too many schoolboy errors – even by players with a wealth of international experience.”

— Schoolboy errors!

2) “I saw two completely different teams out there today. There were lots of players I should have taken off after we conceded the first goal.”

— Again, one mistake by a number of players on Facundo Ferreyra is enough for Di Francesco. He’s not just happy to be here.

1) “I can’t imagine we’d get arrogant just because we’re winning an important game. It’s not as if Roma are used to reaching the final every year.”

— When you’re willing to essentially rip an entire club’s history — Roma’s been to just two UCL quarterfinals since losing the final to Liverpool in 1984 — you’re putting your footprints in new cement.

Salzburg’s two away goals in a draw feels like a one-goal lead, and the one-goal matches are especially interesting. In the case of Atalanta, 1-0 to the Serie A side could undo Michy Batshuayi‘s first leg heroics for BVB.